Rail anchor



y L. O. STRATTON RAIL ANCHOR Filed March 16, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Flg 3 BY Lloyd 0 8 r0 on I ATTORNEY July 10, 1956 o.- STRATTON 2,754,066

RAIL ANCHOR Filed March 16, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. BY Lloyd 0. Sfratfon ATTORNEY United States Patent RAIL ANCHOR Lloyd 0. Stratton, Arvada, Colo. Application March 16, 1955, Serial No. 494,603 9 Claims. (Cl. 238-324) This invention relates to rail anchors of the general type extensively in use described in the patent to C. G. Ericson, No. 2,331,314, dated October 12, 1943, and has as an ob ect to provide a novel and improved form and construction of such rail anchors and to thereby enhance the practical utility thereo A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved rail anchor conditioned to minimize damage to an associated rail resulting from engagement of a derailed wheel with elements of the anchor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved rail anchor characterized by enhanced facility of installation in position of use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved rail anchor yoke adapted for operative association with a conventional rail anchor shoe in a usual manner to more effectively realize certain purposes of the assembly.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved rail anchor yoke susceptible of expedient production to complete an otherwise convenor for customary use with enhanced ad vantage.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and operative combination of elements as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of a typical simple embodiment of the invention as installed in position of practical use.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section through the rail of Figure 1 showing in plan the anchor elements of the latter view with the yoke in its initial position on the shoe.

Figure 3 is an end elevation, on a relatively enlarged scale, of the organization according to Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, detail perspective view of the right-hand end of the arrangement according to Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary, hand end of the arrangement reaction to a derailed wheel, indicating yoke displacement resulting from engagement of the wheel flange therewith.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary, detail perspective view of the condition obtaining with respect to the yoke end shown in Figure 5 after the derailed wheel has passed thereover.

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 5 omitting the showing of the derailed Wheel and illustrating a modification of the yoke end within the contemplation of the invention.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary, detail perspective view of the arrangement according to Figure 7.

Figure 9 is an end elevation of the yoke end shown in Figure 7 as initially reactive to engagement with a derailed wheel.

Figure 10 is a view similar to the left-hand end of Figure 3 illustrating a further modification within the contemplation of the invention.

detail view of the rightaccording to Figure 3 in Rail anchors in the form of a shoe and a clamping yoke are extensively in use to minimize longitudinal creeping of railroad rails. Preferred conventional constructions of such anchors expose ends of the clamping yoke at opposite sides of the rail base with which the anchor is engaged in position to be struck by derailed wheels with consequent damage, not only to the yoke but to the rail base as wel Damage to the rail anchor and its yoke resulting from derailments is of minor economic importance, but so-caused damage to the rail base commonly necessitates replacement of the damaged rail at high cost and with serious disruption of service, hence the instant invention is directed to a novel and significant reorganization of the conventional rail anchor yoke which minimizes, and conceivably obviates, damage to the associated rail when the yoke is struck by a derailed wheel while preserving the functions and advantages of the conventional yoke. In addition and as a further reorganization of the conventional yoke, a feature of the side of a rail-supporting he 18, and a yoke 19 applicable to clamp the shoe to the rail base. The rail is represented as of customary type having usual head portion 20 wardly sloped upper surfaces of The side of the shoe 15 opposite to that intersected by the slot is sloped both longitudinally and transversely of the shoe to provide a flat face 22 exposed when the shoe is enconventionally a slightly-resilient metallic bar adapted to engage transversely of and beneath the rail base 16 in clamping relation between the shoe l5 and the edge face is undercut and sloped for coaction with the face 22 of the shoe. In any preferred particularity of its cooperating elements, the

vention, tate understanding of the occasion for the invention as hereinbelow set forth.

An important feature of the invention is a particular form and construction of the hooked end of the yoke engageable with the edge of the rail base remote from the shoe. conventionally, and as shown in the patent above noted, a shallow notch for the reception of the rail edge is formed under a relatively heavy, upwardly crowned lip to constitute the hook at the end of the yoke 19, and when the upward projection of such conventional hook is struck by a derailed wheel the nose of the heavy lip is constrained to tear and rip through the subjacent rail base margin as the yoke end is forced away from the rail. This action is productive of such damage as frequently destroys the utility of the rail and is readily obviated by the provision of a hook which will break or tear to clear the end of the yoke from the rail base under stresses less than will apply the hook to injury of the base edge. Hence, in accordance with and to give effect to certain principles of the instant invention, the end 24 of the yoke 1% remote from the head 23 i formed with a transverse, inwardly opening, shallow groove for the conformable reception of an edge of the rail base 16 and with an inwardly projecting, integral lip 25 defining the upper wall of said groove in a disposition adapted to lap for a short distance over and upon the sloped upper surface of the rail base. Distinguishing from conventional constructions, the upwardly directed portion of the yoke end 24 and the upper surface of the lip 25 are not upwardly crowned but are, instead, terminated in a common plane area 26 disposed to spacedly parallel the rail base corner engaged under the lip 25 and sloped at an angle outwardly and downwardly of the rail greater than that characterizing the slope of the adjacent rail base upper surface, thus to provide a zone of weakness at the junction of the lip 25 with the yoke end 24, and along the line of the upper, inner corner of the groove underlying said lip, amenable to fracture under appropriate stresses. Thus, without impairment of the factors requisite to proper functioning of the yoke as a clamp for the shoe 15, the hook end 24 of the yoke is conditioned to break away from the lip 25 along the line of the engaged rail base edge and into clearing relation with the latter when struck outwardly of said rail base edge by the flange 27 of a derailed wheel 27, as indicated by Figure 6. Manifestly, the ultimate strength of the zone of weakness at the junction of the lip 25 with the yoke end 24 may be readily regulated and determined at the time of yoke production through adjustment of the slope angle of the area 26 and through control of the thickness of material at said junction, thus to provide that said zone of weakness will most certainly yield under stress before any damage is imposed upon the rail base edge engaged under the lip 25. The progressively increasing thickness of the lip 25 outwardly away from the zone of weakness at its junction with the yoke end 24 insures a clean break of the lip away from the yoke at said zone of weakness and avoids the development of ragged projections at the break which might injure the rail base as they are forced past the edge thereof.

Facilitative of separation of the lip 25 from the end 24 of the yoke 19 under the rolling stresses applied to said yoke end by a derailed wheel, the modified construction according to Figures 7, 8 and 9 is of practical advantage, especially when the yoke is formed from malleable steel, or the like, amenable to shear through the zone of weakness along the rail base edge. In the modified construction, the yoke 19, yoke end 24, lip 25, and sloped area 26 are the same as hereinabove described, and the modification is manifest as an integral, arcuate car 28 upstanding from, perpendicular to, and centrally of the area 26 with its base extending outwardly of and across said area from a point just outwardly from the zone of weakness at the junction of the lip 25 with the yoke end 24 and to the outer margin of said area, thus to obviate any overlap of the base of the ear 28 across the zone of weakness. The ear 28 preferably has a thickness parallel to the rail edge such as to provide strength in the ear greater than that at the zone of weakness between the lip 25 and yoke end 24 and said ear terminates in a crowned upper end elevated above the area 26 sufficiently for engagement by the periphery of a derailed wheel prior to engagement of the wheel with the yoke end 24 or area 26. As indicated by Figure 9, it the function of the car 23 to tilt and rock the yoke 1% about a horizontal axis transverse of the rail base when the ear is struck by a derailed wheel, thereby to initiate a shearing action tending to progressively strip or tear the lip 25 from the yoke end 24 through the zone of weakness therebetween.

As shown in the patent above noted and in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, the terminal head 23 of the yoke 19 is conventionally contoured to merge the upwardly-directed surface thereof in and with the top surface plane of the shoe 15 when the anchor is installed upon a rail. The conventional form and arrangement of the terminal head 23 somewhat complicates installation of the anchor by permitting said head to drop away from proper operating relation with the shoe when the yoke 19 is first loosely applied to the shoe and rail, and the further modification of the invention illustrated by Figure 10 is directed to a correction of the noted disadvantage. As shown, the conventional terminal head 23 is altered in form to raise its upwardly-directed surface above the top surface plane of the shoe 15 and to extend said surface of the head inwardly toward the rail as a lip 29 disposed to lap over and hook upon the upper outer corner of the shoe 15 during initial assembly of the anchor in its position of use. The conventional form of the terminal head 23 is designed to facilitate separation thereof from the shoe 15 when struck by a derailed wheel, and to preserve this feature of the organization the lip 29 of the modification is limited in its inward projection toward the rail to such extent as to dispose its inner free edge margin outwardly of the subjacent line of the rail base edge when the yoke has been driven to its position of use association with the shoe 15. Proportioned and arranged as shown and described, the lip 29 serves to expedite and to facilitate assembly of the shoe 15 and yoke 19 in position of use as an anchor on the associated rail, and while said lip resists sliding travel of the head 23 downwardly across the shoe surface 22, its limited inward projection permits downward displacement of said head in reaction to forces of suificient magnitude and without damage to the adjacent rail base through a rocking of the shoe on the edge of the rail. The shoes 15 being commonly formed of malleable metal, they will deform and yield under rocking forces applied thereto through the head 23 and lip 29 without damage to the more resistant rail base thereby engaged.

Since changes, variations, and modifications in the form, construction, and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had without departing from the spirit of my invention, 1 wish to be understood as being limited solely by the scope of the appended claims, rather than by any details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a rail anchor having a shoe adapted to embrace one edge of a rail base and a yoke adapted to span the rail base in clamping relation between said shoe and the edge of the rail base remote from the shoe, said yoke being formed at one end with an upwardly extending head adapted to engage the exposed marginal face of the shoe and with a hook at the other and adapted to engage the edge of the rail base, means facilitating separation of the hooked end of the yoke from the associated rail base edge without damage to the latter when said end of the yoke is struck by a derailed wheel, said means comprising a hook construction characterized by a zone of weakness at and along the inner upper corner of the hook adapted to coact with the outer upper corner of the rail base.

2. In a rail anchor having a shoe adapted to embrace one edge of a rail base and a yoke adapted to span the with the end of the yoke.

3. In a rail anchor having a shoe adapted to embrace one edge of a rail base and a tion of said lip with the end of the 4. In a rail anchor having a shoe adapted to embrace at and along the inner upper corner of the hook adapted to coact with the outer upper corner of the rail base, and an integral ear centrally of and projecting upwardly from the end of the yoke outwardly adjacent said zone of weakness.

6. In a rail anchor having a shoe adapted to embrace one edge of a rail base and a yoke adpted to span the rail base in clamping relation between said shoe and the edge of the rail base remote from the shoe, said yoke being fromed at one end with an upwardly extending head adapted to engage the exposed marginal face of the shoe and with a hook at the other end adapted to engage the edge of the rail base, means facilitating separation of the hooked end of the yoke from the associated rail base 75 2,331,314

edge without damage to the latter when said end of the yoke is struck by a derailed Wheel, said means comprising a hook construction characterized by an integral lip transversely of and projecting inwardly from the end of the yoke to conformably overlie the edge of the rail with the end of the yoke, and an integral ear centrally of and projecting upwardly from the end of the yoke outwardly adjacent the junction of said lip therewith.

7. In a rail anchor having a shoe adapted to embrace one edge of a rail base and a yoke adapted to span the rail base in clamping relation between said shoe and the edge of the rail base remote from the shoe, said yoke being formed at one end with an upwardly extending head adapted to engage the exposed marginal face of the shoe and with a hook at the other end adapted to engage the edge of the rail base, means facilitating separation of the hooked end of the yoke from the associated rail base edge without damage to the latter when said end of the yoke is struck by a derailed wheel, said means comprising a hook construction characterized by an integral lip transversely of and projecting inwardly from the end of the yoke to conformably overlie the edge of the rail base in a tapered thickness from the lip free margin and outwardly of the yoke productive of a zone of weakness at the junction of said lip with the end of the yoke, and an integral ear centrally of and projecting upwardly from the end of the yoke outwardly adjacent the junction of said lip therewith.

8. In a rail anchor having a shoe adapted to embrace one edge of a rail base and a yoke adapted to span the rail base in clamping relation between said shoe and the edge of the rail base remote from the shoe, said yoke being formed at one end with an upwardly extending head adapted to engage the exposed marginal face of the shoe and with a hook at the other end adapted to engage the edge of the rail base, means facilitating separation of the hooked end of the yoke from the associated rail base edge without damage to the latter when said end of the yoke is struck by a derailed wheel, said means comprising a hook construction characterized by an integral lip transversely of and projecting inwardly of the yoke to conformably overlie the edge of the rail base, a flat upper surface area common to said lip and the associated yoke end sloped downwardly and outwardly from the tree margin of the lip to establish a zone of weakness at the junction of said lip with the end of the yoke, and an integral ear centrally of and projecting inwardly from said flat upper surface outwardly adjacent the junction of the lip with the end of the yoke.

9. In a rail anchor, the operative combination with a shoe adapted to embrace one edge of a rail base and a yoke adapted to span the rail base in clamping relation between said shoe and the edge of the rail remote therefrom, of an upwardly extending head at one end of said yoke adapted to engage the exposed marginal face of the shoe, an integral lip transversely of the yoke at the upper inner corner of said head for hooked engagement over the upper outer corner of the shoe in such limited projection inwardly from the head as to terminate outwardly of the subjacent rail base edge, a hook at the other end of the yoke defined by an integral lip transversely of and projecting inwardly from the end of the yoke to conformably overlie the associated edge of the rail base, said latter lip diminishing in thickness outwardly of the yoke to establish a zone of weakness at the junction thereof with the end of the yoke, and an integral ear centrally of and projecting upwardly from the end of the yoke outwardly adjacent said zone of weakness.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,100,926 Stephenson June 23, 1914 1,150,559 Truman Aug. 17, 1915 Ericson Oct. 12, 1943 

